Stay Gold
by The Lily Maiden
Summary: Like the rest of us haven't? Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes we get taken over by eidolons. But we are all good people on the inside. And I know you've seen bad things and learned how to live on the street. And I know you think your childhood innocence is gone - your golden days. But, Leo, they're not - you are not done with your golden days, and hold onto them while you can


**Disclaimer- I do not own characters, quotes or poems in this story.**

Leo stood watching the others from the control room of the ship. Jason, Piper and Nico were all talking about something, and Hazel was laughing at something Frank said. Frank was grinning like he won the lottery.

Leo still wasn't sure how he felt about Hazel. He had gotten over the whole she-was-almost-my-great-grandmother thing (mostly). And she was pretty as well. But Leo liked her because she knew more about him than anyone else but still accepted him as he was. No one else knew as much as she did, and he really liked that she knew so much, yet did not act like that made him a different person.

"Leo?" Leo jumped as he heard a voice behind him. He spun around and saw Piper. "Oh, you," he said jokingly. Piper smiled at him and walked forward so she was standing next to him.

"Are you okay?" This question caught him off guard. He could sense the charmspeak in the words, trying to get him to talk, but she hadn't commanded him to talk. He had gotten better at throwing of charmspeak.

"No, I'm fine."

Piper didn't say anything for a while. Then she said, "There's this poem by Robert Frost I like. It's called 'Nothing Gold Can Stay.' It goes

'Nature's first green is gold,  
Her hardest hue to hold.  
Her early leaf's a flower;  
But only so an hour.  
Then leaf subsides to leaf.  
So Eden sank to grief,  
So dawn goes down to day.  
Nothing gold can stay.'"

Leo thought about the poem. He wasn't the best poem analyzer, but he had heard the poem before and remembered what his teacher had said about. "It's about holding onto childhood. It's saying your childhood's short, and it will go away, and even though it's hard to keep that innocence, you have to try. And it's also about how beautiful the innocence of children are."

"I would say something along those lines as well," Piper said.

"Beauty Queen, why do you even know this poem?"

Piper smiled. "When I was in seventh grade, we read this book called The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. This poem was in it. That's how I remember it."

"I don't remember reading any book like that."

"I have a copy in my bookcase. Come on, I'll show you."

And off they went.

LINEBREAK

While Leo was building the ship, Piper had asked him to put a large bookcase in her room. He had complied accordingly, and later found out that Piper and Annabeth wanted to make a library for the demigods (though he thought no one would use it but them). They had arranged the books by last name of the author, and Piper immediately went to look for the book. Leo sat on her bed.

"H … Ha … He … Hi … Hin … Hinton! Got it!" Piper sat down next to Leo, holding a dog-eared and well-read copy of the book. There were several sticky notes marking different pages.

"Here's the poem again. And here's another one of my favorite lines - 'I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.' Isn't that such a great line?"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"And here's another - 'Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn. Sixteen years on the streets and you see a lot. But all the wrong sights, not the things you want to see.' I love this so much!'

Leo understood what that line meant. Even though he had only sent some time on the run, on the streets, he can still remember things from those days. He had learned a lot and saw a lot - but not what he wanted to learn and see. He wondered if Piper was trying to make a point. He had felt something with the poem, too. About losing your childhood innocence. Leo had lost that when he was 8. However, nothing got him as much as the next quote Piper said.

"And then, my favorite part - 'You get tough like me and you don't get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothin' can touch you...'"

Leo's life philosophy, written down in a book. He lived his life this way. Now he was sure Piper was trying to make a point.

She wasn't babbling anymore. "Leo, whatever happened when your mom died, it wasn't your fault. And I know it's been hard for you to accept that Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus but you know what Nico says - they'll make it out. And, Leo - we are all willing to become one big, messed up, demigod family and you belong in that too. Because you are a tough guy with defenses and a thick shell. But we all care about you and don't want you to be a loner."

"I care about you guys too but … all I ever cause are accidents. I blew up New Rome, made a whole bunch of mistakes …"

"Like the rest of us haven't? Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes we get taken over by eidolons. But we are all good people on the inside. And I know you've seen bad things and learned how to live on the street. And I know you think your childhood innocence is gone - your golden days. But, Leo, they're not - you are not done with your golden days, and hold onto them while you can. They are something sacred. Percy and Annabeth have none, Jason has none. But Leo, you still have a chance. Take it."

Leo simply stared at her. He got up and moved towards the door. But Piper had one last thing to say to him.

"Stay gold, Leo, stay gold."


End file.
